"Hahahaha! This is exactly the feeling!"
Before the Garganta had even fully faded, Grimmjow's wild laughter had already exploded like rolling thunder.
He was the first to rush out. He didn't need any tactics at all. Like a starving wolf crashing into a flock of sheep, he charged straight into the densely packed ranks of Quincy soldiers.
Blue Cero flashed alongside the cold gleam of his claws. Every swing stirred up a bloody storm of flesh.
On the other side, Candice stepped out of the Garganta.
Lightning crackled around her, but she didn't attack right away. Instead, she tilted her head slightly and glanced at the two familiar faces behind her, now dressed in Hollow King Palace uniforms.
"The people here used to be your acquaintances."
A trace of amusement curved her lips as she pointed at the terrified white-clad Quincies below.
"So? Can you really bring yourselves to do it?"
"Can't bring ourselves to do it?"
A pure yet cruel smile appeared on Meninas's sweet face.
Without the slightest hesitation, she raised her hand and drew a longbow formed from pink spirit particles.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Countless pink arrows poured down like a deadly rainstorm.
Each arrow didn't just pierce through, it carried overwhelming destructive force.
With just a single volley, hundreds of Quincies, along with the ground beneath their feet, were blasted into dust.
"My family was already dealt with as a potential burden the moment I became a knight," Meninas said lightly, "There's nothing here worth caring about anymore."
Thinking about it now, she really had been pathetic.
For the so-called glory of the Sternritter, she had abandoned her family, all just to serve a selfish rat.
'Heh!'
"Same here."
Bambietta spoke coldly, swinging the spirit blade in her hand.
A massive slash swept out, cutting an entire tower in half at the waist. The roaring collapse buried countless screams.
"Hey!"
At that moment, a youthful yet angry voice rang out.
Liltotto Lamperd appeared in front of the three. This short girl, who usually looked listless from constant hunger, was now glaring at Candice and the others with fury.
"Candice! Bambi! Meninas! Why did you three betray His Majesty?"
"Hah? Betray?"
Meninas descended from the air and landed in front of Liltotto, tilting her head mockingly.
"Lili, you're way too naive, aren't you? That selfish 'His Majesty' was clearly sending us to die, and you still expect me to stay loyal? Was I born just to fulfill him? That would make me dirt cheap, wouldn't it!"
"You really are cheap," Bambietta shot her a glance, "Next time don't drag me into it. You scream too loud."
"Tch! Like you don't, you little s!ut!"
Meninas shot her a disdainful look.
"What are you even talking about?", Liltotto looked confused.
"Just some nonsense from people not thinking straight," Candice chuckled, "Come on, Lili. Are you going to fight us on behalf of the Quincies, or walk with us toward the light?"
"Quit wasting words with these traitors! You three shameless bitches!"
A crude roar cut through the conversation. Driscoll Berci burst out from the smoke, his face twisted with rage.
"It's because of your betrayal that Haschwalth lost so badly! Die!"
BOOM!
Before he even finished speaking, three completely different destructive forces descended at once.
Candice's raging lightning, Meninas's pink spirit arrows, and Bambietta's blade pierced through his massive body almost at the same time.
"Annoying!"
The three women snorted in unison.
Before Driscoll's body could even hit the ground, it was torn apart midair by the terrifying combined spiritual pressure.
"..."
Liltotto was trembling all over.
She looked at the three friends she used to snack with and complain about their superiors with, as if they were butchers holding knives.
And with her small frame, she now looked like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
"Alright, let's keep talking, Lili," Meninas said with a cheerful smile.
For Liltotto, they were still willing to spend a few more words reminiscing.
But for other brainless fools like that, their mercy had long since expired.
———
On the other side of the battlefield, the atmosphere was so heavy it was suffocating.
There was no chaotic fighting here, no noise.
Kurosaki Masaki stood there quietly, her black Espada dress fluttering in the wind.
And facing her, there was only one person, Kurosaki Isshin.
"Why!"
Kurosaki Isshin looked at the face he had longed for day and night. Even though her eyes were empty and her figure had become even more enchanting, even though the cold spiritual pressure she gave off felt unfamiliar, he still recognized her. That was Kurosaki Masaki.
His voice shook, filled with pain and confusion.
"Masaki! Why? Why did you become like this?"
There wasn't the slightest ripple in Masaki's hollow eyes. She simply asked back in a soft voice, "Why? What a ridiculous question."
"When Yhwach activated Auswahlen and stripped away my power and life, were you by my side?"
Isshin's body trembled, and he lowered his head in pain, "No!"
"But at that time I also didn't have the strength—"
"Fine," Masaki's voice remained calm, "Then even if you were by my side, facing that Auswahlen that took all my power and left me as fragile as a terminally ill patient, would you have had even the slightest way to save me?"
Isshin fell silent. After a long while, he clenched his fists, his voice hoarse.
"If I had been there… I would've risked my life to find a way! Even if—"
"What way?"
Masaki cut him off coldly, "Without His Majesty saving me, after Auswahlen, my life would've lasted at most ten minutes. Just like Ryuken's wife, Kanae, I would've been reclaimed for being mixed-blood, until death."
"You could've done nothing," Masaki delivered her conclusion.
"So what?"
Isshin suddenly lifted his head, his eyes bloodshot, his emotions completely breaking apart.
"Even if it meant dying! That's still better than becoming a dog without dignity for that bastard Rosse!"
"Heh… a dog?"
Masaki suddenly laughed. There was no warmth in it, only deep mockery of her own fate.
"Yeah. I did become his dog. I lay at his feet, naked, letting him lead me by a collar, playing with me however he pleased like a pet. So what?"
Her words were calm, like she was telling someone else's story, but every word cut deep.
"The Quincy named Kurosaki Masaki died years ago, on that rainy night, the moment Yhwach used Auswahlen. The one standing alive in front of you now is just the 8th Espada of the Hollow King Palace, the private possession of Lord Rosse, Kurosaki Masaki."
"SHUT UP! YOU'RE NOT WORTHY OF THAT NAME!"
Kurosaki Isshin completely lost control. Those words shattered every beautiful memory in his heart.
With a roar, he swung his Zanpakuto and charged at Masaki without hesitation.
"You're not her! You're a monster completely corrupted by Hollows!"
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